Friday, October 17, 2014

“I enjoyed this game immensely. I learned more than I ever
would have from a textbook. I guess actions do speak louder than words.”

“I have learned more about the history of the world this year
than I have in my whole sixteen years of life.”

“Global Challenge taught me a ton. I know for a fact that if
we would have sat in our chairs and done book work all year I would have
failed.”

“Regardless of what happens in the game of Global Challenge,
(the event) can, will, or has happened in the real world.”

“I think that Global Challenge is fantastic. It gave us a
chance to learn while having fun. It was so much better than sitting in class
all day and not learning anything because we were bored.”

“Global Challenge is a great simulation game. Every aspect
relates almost perfectly to history.”

Teachers

Lee,

I really appreciate you getting me a copy of this last month. As I prepare for my upcoming school year I am very intrigued by it, and how I might assimilate it into my current curriculum to enhance my current units/lessons. I am considering some modifications to make it "fit" better with my program, routines and curriculum.

That said, I am very impressed with it on paper, and can really see where it could totally enhance learning and student motivation. This is giving me great food for thought as I ponder how far I want to jump into this and experiment with it in my world history classes - as it would require some major cuts in units to free up time for it. Thanks for putting the possibility out there for all of us that have inquired about Global Challenge!

Jeff Smith, MA. Ed

Lee,
I have initiated Global Challenge this year and I am getting a great response from my kids. As you know I teach students who have emotional and social disabilities. I have made a few changes to make it work for my classroom situation. I will list them below:

The kids fight for more armies and take over unclaimed countries from the world map when they earn 10 armies. Each country starts with three armies.

Kids do battle with each other and there are three rounds of battles where each student can win another army or lose one.

For each round I have set it up where the students turn in Blooms Taxonomy questions they developed from their notes. I then ask them their own questions back at them. I do this because the students are all learning different subjects within one class.

The kids are showing lots of excitement in earning armies. I am in the process of creating an excel chart to track categories like gdp, population, land area, imports and exports. After each unit we identify a winner for each category.

That is just a brief summary of what is going on. I feel I have a lot more to organize to continue making it work with my class, but we are off to a great start! I will get you another update closer to Christmas.
Eric RiesterSocial Studies Teacher

“Lee, I think the project is amazing! I like the way it is
set up so that the students are the ones writing and answering the questions.
Students will learn more if they are the ones doing the research and fact
checking. I especially like the “game” like atmosphere, with students making
alliances and treaties. I don’t think you can simulate anything more real
world. I am going to “tweak” it a little and try it “ancient civilization
style” with my 6th graders. Thanks for allowing me a chance to read through it
and experiment with it.”

Kim Lander, Kansas
City

Thanks for sharing the awesome graphics with me for ideas for my presentation. I really was just blown out by your presentation. It is laid out very logically and demonstrates how easily it will be to get students engaged in learning. You should take a moment and realize what you have created! Awesome. What a tremendous amount of work. Now just do not give up at the end. I think you are the verge of greatness with this idea!

Julie Mumma, Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Sacramento State University

Administrators

“Mr. Chazen has organized and implemented a world history
game that he created to help stimulate student interest, learning, and
participation in the study of world history and world government. This active
learning game greatly increased student understanding, interest, retention, and
participation in their study of world history.”

About the Author

Lee Chazen is a teacher, writer, curriculum developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and developer of a game-based project for social studies teachers, called Global Challenge. The game teaches students about geography, history, economics, politics, and offers them the opportunity to learn about money management, as well as various team and leadership skills.

Over the course of his career, Lee has worked on political campaigns, served as project coordinator for a trade mission to the former Soviet Union, taught high school level world history, U.S. Government and speech and debate. As an educator, he’s delivered workshops and presentations on game-based learning, preparing students for the global village of the 21st Century, critical thinking and the use of humor in the classroom.

Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado State, a teaching certification from the University of Nevada and Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Sacramento State. As a graduate student, Lee developed a “complex-adaptive theory of education” which is built on a chaos theory model and supports a more open and lateral style of learning.

A French Horn player since the age of 7, Lee has played with various symphony orchestras, wind ensembles and brass quintets. In his free time, he also enjoys hiking and running.